


Superfast Jellyfish

by pmastamonkmonk



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-25 00:46:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2602373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pmastamonkmonk/pseuds/pmastamonkmonk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Did you know that the moray eel has poor eyesight and hearing, though its sense of smell makes it quite a formidable predator?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Superfast Jellyfish

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Kamicom's [Star Trek Fan Art](http://kamicom.tumblr.com/post/4614887878/k-s-after-school-date-to-the-aquarium-very-smooth)

It had taken a lot of time to work up the courage to finally ask Spock to accompany him on a date, and just as long to decide on where he’d take him.

Of course, Spock didn’t know it was a date just yet, he’d conveniently forgotten to mention that.

“The moray eel has poor eyesight and hearing, though its sense of smell makes it quite a formidable predator,”

Kirk smiled to himself, “They can also tie themselves into knots for leverage when tearing into food,”

Spock nodded in acknowledgement, gazing into the tank as an eel wiggled by. Kirk took a moment to admire the boy beside him out of the corner of his eye. Spock was taller than him, though there were few boys in their Junior class who weren’t, and was much more stern with his uniform -- though he had managed to talk him into leaving his blazer in the car the Vulcan had kept his sweater vest and tie. He’d almost gotten away with carrying his bag around before Kirk had plucked it from his shoulders and tossed it over his own, stalking to the door and paying both their admission before the other had a chance to argue. While the Vulcan didn’t show too many emotions, Kirk couldn’t miss the rapt fascination in the other boy’s eyes as they went from tank to tank.

It had been genius to bring a being originating from a desert planet such as Vulcan to the aquarium. If he did say so himself, that is.

Spock had taken the interactive PADD, linking it to every station and absorbing the information, recounting anything he deemed of merit to Kirk. The penguins had Kirk learning that the males carried the eggs for the nesting period, stopping by the tanks of jellyfish had him learning that the creatures possessed no brain or nervous system, and the aquarium’s giant Pacific Octopus exhibit left Spock explaining their enormous size and propensity for expelling ink when threatened.

Kirk had smiled and nodded throughout, giving facts of his own when he could and enjoying the impressed looks Spock would give him in response. It wasn’t the most involved date he’d ever been on, but he’d been looking forward to having one with Spock for so long he really didn’t care what they did, as long as Spock was there.

Continuing their way down the hall to the massive central tank of the aquarium, Kirk grinned as Spock’s pace quickened in his approach. The cylindrical tank went through the entire three floors of the aquarium, all through the center, with a ramp circling to view at any height, full of an assortment of brightly colored fish and other creatures. Spock approached first, simply looking up into the wide expanse, eyes darting from one creature to the other before he finally just allowed himself to look at the tank as a whole. Kirk sidled up, smiling to himself at how enraptured the other boy was. There was a pause as Spock settled on the giant turtle that was circling the tank leisurely, scanning through the PADD before beginning to read the article outlined.

As Spock lectured Kirk took a breath, able to feel his face flushing as he drew on his resolve. He inched ever closer to Spock as the other boy, eyes trained on the tank before them, continued recounting facts about the giant reptile as it swam by. Swallowing thickly and keeping his gaze on Spock’s face through the corners of his eyes, he slowly shifted his arm, barely ghosting the backs of his fingers over Spock’s. Able to feel a small jolt, a spark of static jumping between them, his courage fled and he abandoned his plan to hold Spock’s hand, quickly pulling back and rolling his shoulders to disguise the action. If Spock had noticed, he didn’t say anything nor respond physically, finishing his small lecture and turning away from the tank.

“Are there any exhibits you would wish to see?” his voice was toneless as usual, face impassive.

“Anything you pick is fine with me,” Kirk managed after a moment, staring studiously at a clownfish poking from an anemone, face flaming.

Spock studied him for a moment before nodding, starting up the ramp. Frowning to himself and mentally berating his cowardice, Kirk followed. They passed a few small wall-mounted tanks on the way up, alighting to the open air area of the aquarium once more. The tank they stopped at was one of the few you could see from both above water and below, though Spock ignored the viewing window to climb the stairs to the higher plane. Rushing to follow, Kirk studiously placed both hands on the lip of the tank, peering down into the water.

“Sea otters?” he tilted his head, looking down at the floating balls of fur. Most of them were floating in a tight group, a few with pups on their chests, but two were separate from the group, floating on their lonesome. Kirk tapped the PADD in Spock’s hand, managing a grin. “Well, link up. What have they got to tell us about otters?”

Spock did as asked, running a fingertip over the surface of the PADD. As he began to read, Kirk zoned out, allowing one hand to fall to his side, leaning on the other elbow to observe the creatures below. Every so often one of the swimming otters would pop up for air before diving back down or climbing up onto rocks and rolling around in the sun. Kirk couldn’t help but grin at their adorable antics.

“Otters have the densest fur known to mankind, with at least two-hundred-fifty-thousand hairs per square inch,” Spock’s voice paused for a moment and both watched as the two otters away from the group floated next to each other, one reaching out to take the other’s paw into theirs, bringing the two to float together. Kirk frowned, watching the grip on each other’s paws adjust. He idly wondered if it was just bad luck or karma forcing these animals to mock his shortcoming from a few minutes previous when he felt something brush his fingers before gripping his hand.

He glanced down, eyes widening as he trailed the hand up to Spock, who was looking at him impassively. “Spock?”

“Otters hold hands to keep from drifting away while they’re sleeping,” he intoned, fingers flexing. “Though Vulcans do so for different reasons,”

Kirk could feel his face heating, but could not keep the smile from crossing his face. “They use their hands to kiss, right?”

“Indeed,” Spock nodded faintly. “I hypothesized from your behavior at school that you desire a romantic addition to our relationship, though I chose to wait before acting on my theory,”

“When did you…” Kirk’s eyes widened. “When I touched your hand,”

Spock inclined his head. “Vulcans are touch telepaths. While you are an exceptionally tactile individual, you are usually very careful to not touch me skin to skin. When your fingers brushed mine I was able to detect your emotions,”

“If you noticed, why not just grab my hand then?”

“I wished for you to, as you say, make the first move,” Spock replied easily. “Perhaps a… human desire to be the one pursued. Though when you made no further moves, I assumed you would wait an interminable length of time before attempting again and found myself unwilling to wait,”

Kirk made a face, “How long have you ‘hypothesized’ on my feelings?”

“I first noticed your intentions four point three months ago,”

“And you’ve never said anything?”

“I assumed you would approach when ready. Your voiced desire for me to accompany you today seemed to be your approach,”

Kirk grinned, “You knew it was a date,”

“You did pay for my entrance,” he nodded to the bag on Kirk’s shoulders, “and have been carrying my bag for me. Most chivalrous,”

Coloring, Kirk smiled, “Yeah, well… you deserve chivalry… you had fun today, right? I did good?”

Spock’s mouth twitched into a slight smile, “Yes, Jim… you did good,” he leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Kirk’s lips. “Now, I would like to go look at the penguins again,”

A wide grin split Kirk’s face, his hand gripping Spock’s tighter, pulling them close enough for their shoulders to brush. “Anything you want,”


End file.
